Guideway girder

ABSTRACT

A guideway girder is provided for a vehicle transport system wherein a plurality of the girders are assembled in succession in a direction of travel of a vehicle to form a guideway for the vehicle. The girder is formed by a combination of concrete structural elements, and includes at least one sound isolation element disposed on a surface of at least one of the structural elements.

BACKGROUND

[0001] The invention relates to a guideway girder, in particular for amagnetic levitation transport system, for the realization of a guidewayby several girders following each other in the direction of travel of avehicle. The guideway girder has at least one upper girder section, inparticular a top chord, possibly with a lower girder section, inparticular a bottom chord, and with at least one supporting sectionlocated below the upper girder section, in particular a web.

[0002] Sounds and noise of all kind are known to affect the well-beingof persons exposed to these sounds in a negative manner. Vehicle noisesmay represent a major problem in this regard. The blocking of noiseproduced by the vehicle on the guideway girders—in addition to thetravel sounds produced directly by the vehicle on the guideway girders,in particular engine noises—by means of sound insulation walls installednext to the tracks in order to protect, e.g., dwellings or nature areaslocated behind them, is known. These sound insulation walls are howeverrelatively expensive and space consuming in their installation.Furthermore they often do not contribute to the beautification of therail line. Sound insulation devices are not provided as standardequipment on guideway girders having the characteristics mentionedabove. The problem of high noise emission from such girders has not beenrecognized until now.

SUMMARY

[0003] It is an object of the present invention to further develop aguideway girder of the type mentioned above in such a manner that aneffective sound insulation is achieved under favorable space-savingconditions. Additional objects and advantages of the invention will beset forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious fromthe description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.

[0004] This object is attained with the guideway girder of the typementioned initially by means of at least one sound insulating elementinstalled on the upper girder section and/or the lower girder sectionand/or the (at least one) supporting section.

[0005] The invention proposes for this a tabular sound insulationelement for installation on a guideway girder that may be locatedessentially above ground.

[0006] The advantages of the invention consist in particular in the factthat the sound emitted by the vehicle on the guideway girders can besubstantially reduced by installing one or several sound insulationelements on the upper girder section, on a possibly present lower girdersection, and/or on the (at least one) supporting section. For thispurpose, in particular tabular sound insulating elements lining thegirder section(s) and/or supporting sections. Preferably, the elementsmay be in the form of porous or open-pore absorbers or plate resonators.In the latter case, the plates, foils, etc. are installed with clearancein front of the section involved. The resonance occurring in thecavities result in increased air oscillations and thereby tosound-absorbing friction. Cavity resonators can also be used, with anarrow access opening leading to a cavity between the girdersection/supporting section and the sound insulation element. The flowresistance necessary for sound absorption can be located in the openingand/or in the cavity.

[0007] Sound insulation elements can be made in single layers or inseveral layers or structures. All of the known configurations andmaterials can be considered if suitable.

[0008] It is a further advantage of the sound insulating elementsaccording to the invention that also sounds can be prevented fromreaching the vehicle itself, or can be attenuated, and that theinconveniencing of travelers through noise can be avoided thereby. Inthe case of a magnetic levitation transport system, these noises are inparticular the result of air eddies produced between the vehicle and theguideway girder. With a conventional train, engine noise as well as therolling noises produced by the contact of wheel against rail are addedto this.

[0009] The guideway can also be designed as a bivalent guideway on whicha magnetic levitation transport system as well as—with considerablynarrower gauge—conventional trains can travel.

[0010] It has been shown to be advantageous statically as well as fromthe point of view of manufacturing technology in certain cases, if theguideway girder—in particular when used for a magnetic levitationtransport system—is given a hollow configuration in cross-section. Forthis, preferably two supporting sections or webs across from each otherare provided and are connected to each other through the upper girdersection or top chord. Towards the bottom, a lower-girder section orbottom web closes off the cavity advantageously. With this design, it ispossible to achieve advantageous acoustic effects, in that, e.g., partof the noises produced are radiated off into the cavity, and are in partabsorbed therein, without affecting the outside environment with noise.

[0011] In case of, e.g. relatively small curve radii, it is advantageousif the guideway girder cross-section is full, so that only a supportingsection under the upper girder section is present. Sound insulationelements are then installed, e.g. on one or on both sides on thesupporting section.

[0012] The guideway girder is preferably supported on one or severalpillars imbedded in the ground. This solution also allows for aconstructively advantageous machining of the girder during manufacture,as well as a relatively easy erection at the building site. In addition,the space underneath the guideway girder can be used. Thesound-insulating elements installed high above ground on the guidewaygirder are in this case relatively protected from unauthorized access,e.g. vandalism, by third parties.

[0013] The individual guideway girders are preferably successivelyassembled one after the other so that the distance between thesupporting sections following each other is small or negligible. In anextreme case, a continuous sequence of successive girder sectionsresults, forming a kind of wall in the direction of travel on whichsound insulation elements of large surface can be installed.

[0014] Preferably one or several sound insulation elements are providedoutside and/or, in the case of a cavity as described above, inside onthe supporting sections, depending on the efficiency of the soundabsorption. The sound emitted, e.g. in the cavity, is still radiated offin part by the delimiting walls into the outside environment. It maytherefore be useful to provide the cavity on the inside with soundinsulating elements and/or to mount these elements on the outside of thecavity walls. These designs apply to the supporting sections as well asto the upper girder section and the lower girder section of the guidewaygirder.

[0015] For the most effective sound absorption possible, it is good ifthe (at least one) sound insulation element is essentially tabular inform, since the absorption surface for sound energy can be sufficientlylarge in that case. The sound insulation elements are advantageouslymounted on free surfaces of the guideway girder sections. The soundinsulation elements are not imbedded in the girder in this case, but aremounted in tabular form on the guideway girder (or one layer on theguideway girder).

[0016] Depending on the configuration of the guideway girder sections tobe covered, the (at least one) sound insulation element can be providedwith several surface segments forming an angle with each other. Such adesign of the sound insulation elements can thus be adapted to the formof any of the sections of the guideway girder to be covered, and can beinstalled on especially critical locations emitting high sound energy.

[0017] Since a guideway girder may have relatively large dimensions, itis advantageous for reasons of easier handling, to install severalsmaller sound insulation elements next to each other in the traveldirection of the guideway.

[0018] In addition to their original purpose, the sound insulationelements can advantageously be used for yet another purpose, e.g. byattaching advertising elements, in particular advertising posters and/orlighted advertising.

[0019] Advantageous further developments of the invention arecharacterized by the features of the sub-claims:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The invention is explained in detail in the following withreference to the drawings, in which:

[0021]FIG. 1 shows a guideway with a magnetic levitation transportsystem

[0022]FIG. 2 shows an alternative embodiment of a guideway girder incross-section, with sound insulation elements, and

[0023]FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the guideway girder accordingto FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Reference will now be made to embodiments of the invention, oneor more examples of which are shown in the drawings. Each embodiment isprovided by way of explanation of the invention, and not meant as alimitation of the invention. It is intended that the invention includemodifications and variations to the embodiments described or illustratedherein.

[0025] The invention is described by way of example using a hybridcarrier system for rail-bound vehicles. Such a carrier system isdescribed in detail in EP 0 987 370 A1, the disclosed content of whichis incorporated herein.

[0026]FIG. 1 shows a guideway for a magnetic levitation transport system100 in cross-section. Girders 2, preferably made of prestressedconcrete, are attached on pillars 5 at the construction site. Here,several girders 2 are successively assembled in the direction of theguideway wherein the faces of the girders 2 adjoin each other directly.Laterally, on every girder 2, connecting consoles 1 preferably made ofsteel are installed at equal distances. Each connecting console 1 iswelded or screwed together with tie rods 6 that are imbedded in theprestressed concrete of the girder 2. Each connecting console 1 has ahead plate 4 at which functional level supports 3 are attached toreceive, e.g. stator packages 9.

[0027]FIGS. 2 and 3 show an alternative embodiment of a girder 2 whichis provided with an upper girder section 12 in the form of a top chord12, two lateral sections 13 designed as supporting sections 13, 14horizontally at a distance from each other, as well as a lower girdersection designed as lower chord 15. The chords 12, 15 and supportingsections 13, 14 delimit a cavity 16 with nearly rectangularcross-section. The installation of functional level supports 3 onconnecting consoles 1 is essentially as shown in the embodiment of FIG.1.

[0028] According to the invention, tabular sound insulation elements 8,which may be designed in the form of known sound absorbers (such as e.g.porous absorbers, plate resonators or cavity resonators), are installedoutside on the chords 13, 14 to reduce the noise produced by traffic.The sound insulation elements 8 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 on the chords 13,14 are provided with two segments 8 a, 8 b designed so as to form anangle with each other that is adapted to the downward widening form ofthe chords 13, 14. Several sound insulation elements 8 are installed soas to be directly connected to each other in the direction of theguideway.

[0029] As can be seen in FIG. 1, the magnetic levitation transportsystem 100 reaches around the connecting consoles 1 and the functionallevel supports 3 to within close proximity of the chords 13, 14. Forthis reason the sound insulation elements 8 are not continued up to theupper girder section 12, but end in an upper edge below the magneticlevitation transport system 100. Tabular sound insulation elements,possibly with a smaller diameter (thickness) because of lack of space,can of course also be installed on the chord segments directly acrossfrom the magnetic levitation transport system 100.

[0030] On the side of the upper girder section 12 facing up, soundinsulation elements 7 are installed (not shown in FIG. 3) and preferablyare successively assembled in the direction of travel, and may occupynearly the entire width of the upper top chord 12. The sound insulationelements 7 reach to such height as not to interfere with the functionsand travel operations of the magnetic levitation transport system 100.

[0031] In an embodiment of the invention not shown here, the inner wallsof the chords 13, 14 of the top chord 12 and/or of the bottom chord 15are alternatively or additionally also lined with sound insulationelements. The advantage of such a measure depends in particular on thesound energy radiated from the cavity 16. Especially with a lining of acavity 16 as mentioned above, the possibility exists to use soundinsulation elements with large surfaces so that they cover part of thechords 12, 16 as well as the webs 13, 14.

[0032] For the sake of clarity, no sound insulation elements 7, 8 areshown in FIG. 1. The preceding descriptions can however be appliedwithout any restrictions to these embodiments of the guideway.

[0033] The sound insulation elements 7, 8 according to the invention, inparticular those located on the top of girder 2, have the additionaladvantage that the girder 2 is protected from direct sun rays and thatas a result uneven warming and thereby deformation of the girder isreduced.

[0034] It is also possible to install sound insulation elementsalternatively or additionally on the pillars 5 which are considered inthat case to be supporting sections in the sense of the claims of thepresent invention.

[0035] The external surfaces of the sound insulation elements 7, 8 canbe used as advertising space, thus performing a double function.

[0036] It should be apparent to those skilled in the art thatmodifications and variations can be made to the embodiments describedand illustrated herein without departing from the scope and spirit ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. Guideway girder, in particular for a magnetic levitation transportsystem (100), for forming a guideway with a number of girders (2) thatare successively assembled in the direction of travel, with an uppergirder section (12), in particular a top chord (12), possibly with alower girder section (15), in particular a bottom chord (15) and atleast one supporting section (13, 14), in particular a web (13, 14)below the upper girder section (12), characterized by at least one soundinsulation element (7, 8) located in the area of the upper girdersection (12) and/or of the lower girder section (15) and/or of the (atleast one) supporting section (13, 14).
 2. Guideway girder as in claim1, characterized by a hollow cross-sectional configuration, whereby thecavity (16) is delimited toward the top by the upper girder section(12), laterally by a supporting section (13, 14) on either side andtoward the bottom by a lower girder section (15).
 3. Guideway girder asin claim 1 or 2, characterized by an installation on one or severalpillars (5) imbedded in the ground.
 4. Guideway girder as in one of thepreceding claims, characterized in that the faces of the supportingsections (13, 14) of girders (2) following each other successively inthe direction of the guideway and which are across from each other areessentially connected to each other.
 5. Guideway girder as in one of thepreceding claims, characterized in that sound insulation elements (7, 8)are installed on the inside and/or outside of the supporting sections(13, 14), on the bottom and/or top of the upper girder section (12)and/or on the top of a lower girder section (15).
 6. Guideway girder asin one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the (at least one)sound insulation element (7, 8) is essentially flat in shape and atleast partially covers in the manner of a lining the (at least one)upper girder section (12) and/or the lower girder section (15). 7.Guideway girderas in one of the preceding claims, characterized in thatat least one sound insulation element (8) is provided with two flatsegments (8 a, 8 b) that are at an angle to each other.
 8. Guideway asin one of the preceding claims, characterized in that several soundinsulation elements (7, 8) are installed one next to the other in thedirection of travel.
 9. Guideway girder as in one of the precedingclaims, characterized by a design as a bivalent guideway, e.g. formagnetic levitation transport trains as well as for conventional trains.10. Utilization of a tabular sound insulation element for installationon a guideway girder (2) installed or that can be installed essentiallyabove ground, with an upper girder section (12), possibly a lower girdersection (15) and with at least one supporting section (13, 14), inparticular a guideway girder (2) as in one of the previous claims. 11.Utilization of a sound insulation element as in claim 10, characterizedin that it is used to line free surfaces of the (at least one)supporting section (13, 14) of the upper girder section (12) and/or ofthe lower supporting section (15).
 12. Utilization of a sound insulationelement as in claim 10 or 11, characterized in that in additionadvertising elements are attached to the sound insulation elements (7,8), in particular billboards and/or illuminated publicity.